Magazine of e.t.s.v. Thor and the department of Electrical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology

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1 Magazine of e.t.s.v. Thor and the department of Electrical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology 28 December 2014 Afscheid Corona Einde hoogspanningshal Corona in zicht door Flux Ralph Otten blikt terug Stella goes USA Tech United at Robocup Excursions AME & Thales

2 I Editorial Connecthor Volume 7, issue 4 - December 2014 Connecthor is published by e.t.s.v. Thor and the department of Electrical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology. Connecthor is published quarterly with a circulation of 1200 copies and is free for all members of e.t.s.v. Thor and employees of the department of Electrical Engineering. Editors in chief: Femke Verheggen Martijn van Beurden Layout editors: Edgar van Megen Anjo Peeters Jeroen van Oorschot Editors: Manon Eijsvogel Georgios Exarchakos Pauline van Gelder Birgit van Huijgevoort Esmee Huismans Suzanne Kuijlaars Mark Legters Fer Radstake Rianne Sanders Bart Smolders Harold Vervoort Cover: Hoogspanningshal Corona Printer: Jafra drukwerkservice Editorial correspondence: Connecthor Eindhoven University of Technology Potentiaal Den Dolech 2, P.O. Box MB Eindhoven (040) , connecthor@tue.nl Web: Advertisers: Page22 Back cover: Thales AME Deadline copy next issue: 9 January 2015 Copyright Connecthor 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any way without prior written permission of the editorial board. At the moment of writing this editorial, everyone in the department is busy with the upcoming move to our new Building Flux. The move is a huge operation. Once we get the key of Flux, the first research group, SPS-VCA, will move on Monday 8 December. December 18th and 19th, the departmental staff of both departments will move to Flux. In the new year, the other groups will move and this process will take until the end of March. In this edition we pay attention to the move by saying goodbye to the Corona building and the Hoogspanningshal with a nice article from prof. Kling. If you re looking for inspiration for an internship abroad, have a look at the article by Tom Geelen about his internship in Chile. Of course we also inform you about the challenge that the new automotive team Storm will take up; in 80 days around the world on an electric motorcycle. And let s not forget one of the highlights of the past period was that Tech United became World Champion Robot Soccer for the second time at Robocup Bob van Ninhuijs writes about his personal experience of this exciting event in Brazil. The editorial board is currently looking for new members. Are you up for a new challenge and would you like to contribute to our magazine? We are especially inviting employees of the EE department to respond. As always, we will be glad to receive your suggestions and ideas for upcoming editions and you can contact us via connecthor@tue.nl. We hope you will enjoy reading this new edition of the Connecthor and we wish everyone Happy Holidays and a Prosperous New Year! The Connecthor editorial board Disclaimer The editor reserves the right to shorten and otherwise edit the articles. The views and opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of e.t.s.v. Thor or the department of Electrical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology. 02 connecthor

3 ContentI 13 Ralph Otten blikt terug Vanaf pagina 13 blikt Ralph Otten terug op zijn carrière Editorial 4 Board Issues 5 Wanted: Connecthor board members 6 In memoriam 7 From the President 8 Introducing News 11 ThEW, an unforgettable weekend! 11 Social outing of the Buro 12 Afscheid Corona en hoogspanningshal 13 Ralph Otten blikt terug 16 Photo page 18 Mid-size league of Tech United at Robocup 20 In 80 days around the world on motorcycles 21 AME excursion 21 Thales excursion 22 Werkervaring bij Thales 24 Cleanroom visit NXP Nijmegen 24 IEEE Day 25 Desert, earthquakes, snow and pisco 26 Stella goes USA 28 Mythology: Hildebrandslied 30 Puzzle 31 Column Mid-size league of Tech United Tech United won the Robocup in Brazil. Read more about this on pages 18 and Afscheid Corona Op pagina 12 wordt de geschiedenis van de hoogspanningshal in Corona beschreven. Stella goes USA Stella discovered yet another part of the world, with a trip from Los Angeles to San Fransisco. Read more about this journey on pages 26 and 27. December

4 IDepartment Board Issues By: Ton Koonen not least, in engineering sciences one would like to achieve results which serve a higher purpose, i.e. are valuable for our society, in industry, economy, health-care organizations, or in the professional and private parts of our life. The bridge from research results to actual value-adding applications needs therefore to be crossed as well. Doing research in an academic setting is in several ways quite different from doing research in an industrial setting. In industry, anymore, at least not before the best market opportunities have already been consumed. It often also requires a patent filing first. On the academic side, however, we want to publish as soon as we have achieved the results. If somebody is ahead of us and publishes the idea first, the window of opportunity is closed. Our PhD students are therefore energetically and enthousiastically busy with their research, and have a large drive to publish at conferences and in journals. Differently from industry, we want to bring We want to bring out our research results as soon as possible, to avoid losing the leading edge Doing research is a key part of an academic job, next to teaching, managing (in a smaller or larger circle of influence), and valorization. In a university, and certainly in a technical university, these four ingredients cannot exist just on their own. We would like to bring our students up to the present state of the art, so up to the level of the most recent insights and achievements. It is therefore most useful when we ourselves are working at these front levels too. And doing research is nowadays not an activity of isolated individuals. It is often done in teams, in larger projects where each researcher works on a part of the puzzle. That is where management aspects arise, in order to have efficient and smooth interaction, and together work towards the overarching goal of the project. And last but the goal typically is to develop a new product ahead of the competition, so that the market can be entered first and benefits can be reaped at the best prices. Typically, industrial research is only published after some time, when the results obtained are so far ahead of the competition that they cannot catch up out our research results as soon as possible, to avoid losing the leading edge. Obviously, many research groups are working on similar topics and are competing to get their papers published. The papers have to go through a review process to select the best ones. That is 04 connecthor

5 DepartmentI a tough time-consuming task for reviewers, who typically have to do that on top of their normal work, often in their spare time. Peer reviews (i.e. the review of your work by colleagues in your field) are highly important for maintaining and further improving the high quality level of research. This holds for the review of publications, of the progress made in research activities in general, and also for the review of project proposals. The reviewers should judge carefully whether the research you are reporting or proposing is genuine and original, and whether it gives due references to related work done previously by others. The latter is one of the obligations we have according to the Code of Scientific Conduct, recently distributed by the Board of our university. The Code lists the obligations we have in doing and publishing research. We should present results that are truly achieved, and be clear about any uncertainties and limiting boundary conditions. We should duly acknowledge contributions from others by citing their work; plagiarism cannot be accepted. We should also be open about how the results were obtained, and basically make it possible for other people knowledgeable in the field to replicate our research results and test them. We should work in academic freedom, so not be biased by interests of political, economic or personal nature. And we should do our research with a sound responsibility towards society, so abstain from activities causing harm to our society and adhere to ethical norms. Every six years, the research activities in our EE department are undergoing a peer review, jointly with our EE colleagues of TU Delft and University of Twente. Such a review is important to expose our research activities in a wider context, amongst others for influencing funding bodies and politicians, and to promote Electrical Engineering in general. The previous one was held in 2011, and covered the period Like with the peer review of publications, the peer review of research activities gives an impartial assessment of the quality and relevance of our research, and is of high value to direct our research efforts into the direction with the highest recognition, value added and best position to attract funding. Our EE department came out very well from this review, with marks per group which were in the front lines of the overall ones in the EE departments of the 3 TUs. We are now to prepare for the next review, covering the period There is a new Standard Evaluation Protocol (SEP) for the Dutch universities that has to be followed; one of the differences with the previous review is that the entities to be reviewed have to be large, i.e. of at least 10 fte research effort each, and exist in that form for at least 3 years. And, in order to have a joint peer review with the EE activities in TU Delft and University of Twente again, there should be comparable entities at the three universities. Hence the upcoming review will be organized at the level of the EE faculties as a whole, not per individual group anymore. To get prepared for this review, there will be a light review in 2015, in which we will practice with the new SEP. This so-called midterm review concerns the period , and activities to collect the inputs for the self-evaluation report have been started. Given the excellent outcome from the previous review, and the encouraging research results and external recognition we got since then, we can confidently look forward to this upcoming midterm review! Ton Koonen Wanted: Connecthor board members! Do you like a new challenge? We have positions open for creative, enthusiastic employees and students of de Department of Electrical Engineering interested in joining us to make the Connecthor magazine. We are especially looking for: Editors Editors ensure the written quality of print and online publications. Their duties include developing ideas for new articles, approaching people to write or write articles themselves, making sure that a writer s formatting fits house-style guidelines, correcting grammatical or factual errors and making suggestions for improvement. Layout editors Layout editors are primarily responsible for designing the format of publications. They utilize layout software to assemble text, photographs and other content in an aesthetically pleasing and easy-to-read arrangement. Within the Connecthor board we work with a small team of layout editors working with InDesign software. Editors in Chief The editor-in-chief manages all the day-to-day operations of a publication. He/she oversees all the work of the editors of a publication and ensures that each issue is released in time. The editor-in-chief reviews all articles and photographs for accuracy as well as potential libel or slander, and provides suggestions, if needed, about any changes to make before the publication goes to press or is released digitally. If you re interested in any of the positions listed above, please send an to connecthor@tue.nl. December

6 In memoriam Prof. ir. Karel H. Wesseling It is with great sadness that the Managing Board of the Department of Electrical Engineering announces the death of Prof.ir. Karel H. Wesseling Emeritus Professor in Biomedical Instrumentation. From 1 November 1990 until 4 January 2000, Professor Wesseling was affiliated with the Medical Electrical Engineering research group, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology. During this time he supervised many MSc. students with great dedication. He was an expert in combining his extensive technical knowledge and his insight into human physiology and presenting it with great enthusiasm. We offer our sincere condolences to his wife, children and other family members on the loss of this exceptional person. Prof. dr. ir. Ton Backx, Dean Prof. ir. Ton Koonen, Board Member Ir. Alfons Bruekers, Managing Director Prof. dr. ir. Bart Smolders, Director of Education Het faculteitsbestuur heeft er bedroefd kennis van genomen dat op 4 September 2014 is overleden Prof. ir. Karel H. Wesseling Emeritus Hoogleraar Biomedische Instrumentatie. Prof. Wesseling is van 1 november 1990 tot 4 januari 2000 verbonden geweest aan de vakgroep Medische Elektrotechniek van de Faculteit Elektrotechniek van de Technische Universiteit Eindhoven. In die tijd heeft hij met grote toewijding veel studenten begeleid bij hun afstuderen. Hij wist zijn technische kennis en zijn inzicht in de humane fysiologie goed met elkaar in verband te brengen en dit geheel boeiend te presenteren. Wij wensen zijn vrouw, kinderen en verdere familie veel sterkte bij het verwerken van het verlies van deze markante persoon. Prof. dr. ir. Ton Backx, Decaan Prof. ir. Ton Koonen, Bestuurlid Onderzoek Ir. Alfons Bruekers, Directeur Bedrijfsvoering Prof. dr. ir. Bart Smolders, Opleidingsdirecteur

7 AssociationI From the President By: Birgit van Huijgevoort It was September 24th; we officially became the Board of Thor. It feels almost like it happened yesterday. The feeling of happiness to finally wear a red choker (or tie for the boys) is something I will never forget. Actually it is pretty strange to feel so pleased about this, because basically it is a small item. As you might have noticed, I like writing. When I was a child, I was a big fan of Roald Dahl. I wanted to become as good in writing as he. This was one of my dreams, even the biggest one when I was young. My other dream was to become an inventor, like the one you see in animation movies. More specifically, I wanted to be able to turn a vacuum cleaner into an independent robot. The funny thing is that this might seem an odd combination and it might seem hard to accomplish both dreams, but the opposite is true. I am writing this column, which is different than writing a children s book, but it is the same concept. The inventor dream is even more likely to come true, because as a matter of fact I am studying to become an engineer. So basically my dreams can still come true, both of them! Maybe not the way I expected, but this way might even be better. I believe I have talked enough about myself, so I will dedicate the remainder of this column to stuff more related to Thor. Fortunately, a lot has happened lately, so there is enough to talk about; we had the ThEW, the candidates drink, the annual general members meeting, the constitutional drink and so on. For me, the most special happening was the change of the Board. On the 22 nd of September, the annual general members meeting (GMM) started. We, the candidates at that time, had to be present, but did not really have an important task. On the third day this was different, because then we had to present ourselves and our policy. The whole day I was nervous and to make it even worse, I had a cold, so my voice was terrible. Strangely, during the GMM my nerves were calmed and the presentation went well and we were chosen to be the next Board of Thor! On this day, the change of the Board was finally happening. The funny thing is that I had to lead the GMM without having a strong voice, I was almost whispering, so therefore I had to use Mjölnir (Thor s hammer) a lot. Using this tool really made me feel to be the President of Thor. Leading the general members meeting really was a challenge for me. I like to be prominent, but I hate making mistakes. Therefore, staying in the background is an easy way out for me. I especially hate making a mistake when lots of people see me making it, which could happen at a GMM, because everybody is (or should be) listening to you. Fortunately, I believe I did not make any (big) mistakes and everything went well. Another special activity for me was the constitutional drink. It really felt amazing to stand there as the Board and have all the other associations coming over to congratulate you. Just like the GMM, this was a moment that I felt very proud to be a Board member of Thor. The dinner and party afterwards were really nice as well; we got to know our sister associations even better than we already did. As you might have noticed I am very excited to be part of the Board and I am absolutely sure that this will be a great year! Not just for me, because I hopefully will acquire lots of new skills, but also for Thor. Veel gedonder! Birgit van Huijgevoort President of Thor December

8 IDepartment Introducing... Hi everybody! I am very pleased that I can introduce myself as the new secretary of the SPS Group. My name is Marieke van Riet and I started my new position on October 1 st. I have worked as an office manager for almost 10 years at a consultant agency and nearly 3 years at the International Relations Office of University College Maastricht. I love working in an environment where education and innovation are important, so it feels great to be part of the TU/e staff. I live with my husband Peter and our two cats (it took me 12 years to convince him we should have pets, so I figured they are worth mentioning) in Weert, where I was born and raised. I have not lived in Weert my entire life; I did spent one year in the US as an exchange student, which was a great experience and I am very glad I had this opportunity. It really helped broaden my horizon. In my spare time I love to visit the theatre or the movies, go for nice walks, tour around in our Alfa Spider and I am very involved in Vastelaovundj vereiniging De Schäöpkes (not only during the carnival season). Family and friends are very important to me and since I am a caring person by nature, I enjoy having them over for dinner or just spend time together. This is just a short introduction so you will have an idea who is behind that new face, wandering through the hallways and who knows, we might actually meet in person! Hallo iedereen! My name is Garbi Singla, I m almost 27 years old (end of November) and I m from Spain, but maybe more importantly...i m from a little town of Gran Canaria, Canary Islands! I know, I know you could ask Why did you come to the Netherlands?, and a possible answer could be Not to enjoy the beach and the weather!. I studied Electrical Engineering, receiving my MSc Degree in Telecommunications Engineering in 2012 and an MSc degree in Electronics Engineering in 2013, both of them from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain). During the past years I collaborated with the Integrated Systems Design Division, as member of the Institute for Applied Microelectronic (IUMA), working in the fields of SoC and NoC design for hardware implementation of multimedia algorithms. Now, I m starting the PDEng ICT program as a member of the Electronic Systems group, of course here at Electrical Engineering. This program is an opportunity to get to know the company, and a good stepping stone for my career. I believe this period here is going to be very challenging and during the next two years I will have to get used to the Dutch way of life! (Goodbye siesta, hallo sandwiches for lunch! :-P). In my spare time I like to go to the sportcentrum, meet new people and enjoy a nice beer, and, as a good Spaniard, have good parties. I m going to be around TU/e for a few years so maybe I have a chance to meet you, so, please, feel free to say Hello! 08 connecthor

9 DepartmentI Hi! My name is Maria Puentes, I am 22 years old and I come from Colombia, a beautiful place I hope all of you go some day. Specifically I am from Bogotá, a majestic city located at 2600 m above the level of the sea, surrounded by mountains. I did my Master in Electrical Engineering, at Universidad de los Andes, and finished it on December I was working on MV substations in Bogotá, and I had this wonderful opportunity to come to the Netherlands, and well here I am, pretty excited and discovering the life in Europe. My work has been focused on Renewable Energy, EVs and Power Electronics. Now I have the opportunity to work in an European Project, with a lot of people with vastly different backgrounds. In my free time I like to run, swim, or bike. I used to run in the early morning (around 5am which is pretty normal in Colombia), but here I have shifted my schedule a little bit, hoping that I can get used to the evening exercise. Now I have more spare time since the commute time is almost negligible, which is I think what I have loved the most of my new life; I have the time to work, exercise and actually sleep. Kind Regards, Maria Hi everyone! My name is Perry van Schaijk, I m 25 years old and I was born in Heesch (a village approximately 40 km to the north of Eindhoven). I obtained both my BSc and MSc degrees at the TU/e. My interests are fairly broad, but since my graduation project I have been focusing on the properties of light. That is also part of the reason I am now joining the Photonic Integration group by looking into ways to stabilize an on-chip laser. As a part of my studies, I was given the opportunity to do an internship abroad. I took this chance and Peter Baltus helped me to secure a place at the University of California, Los Angeles, to do research on cognitive radio in the lab of Danijela Cabric. For my graduation project, Erwin Bente helped me find a position at Philips Research where I thoroughly enjoyed looking into the polarization properties of light under the guidance of Gert t Hooft. During my studies, I have been a member of the study association of Electrical Engineering and as such I helped organize a number of activities. Among others, I was in the board for a year, helped organize the study tour to Japan, and have been tending the bar for several years. Also, I did several student jobs in this department, such as teaching a master class and helping freshmen figure out best practices for studying. Besides working, I tend to spend a lot of time playing the saxophone. For quite some years already, I have been playing in an orchestra in Heesch. Last year, I thought it was time for some variation and I joined a big band in Eindhoven. It is indeed a lot different and as such it is a real challenge. I do however enjoy it, just as my new position. December

10 INews Afscheid Rein van Asten Op donderdag 30 oktober heb ik afscheid genomen van de faculteit Electrical Engineering en van de universiteit. Ik wil mede namens mijn vrouw graag alle familieleden, vrienden, collegae en ex collegae bedanken voor de overweldigende belangstelling. Dank voor jullie aanwezigheid, hartelijk wensen, toespraken en cadeaus. Ik kijk samen met Enne met voldoening terug op deze memorabele dag en kijk met genoegen vooruit. Rein van Asten Cum Laude Promotie Emil Kleijn van de faculteit Electrical Engineering is cum laude gepromoveerd. Hij verdedigde op 11 september 2014 in het Auditorium zijn proefschrift getiteld Passive components in indium phosphide generic integration Technologies. De eerste promotor is prof.dr.ir. Arthur van Roermund, hoogleraar Elektronische Schakelingen. Cum laude promoties zijn relatief zeldzaam. Zo n vijf procent van de promovendi krijgt dit erepredikaat. Om ervoor in aanmerking te komen moet het verrichte onderzoek van een uitzonderlijk hoge kwaliteit zijn en moet de promovendus met uitzonderlijke zelfstandigheid gewerkt hebben. Electrical Engineering popular In September 2014, we have seen a further increase of the influx of new students. We started this academic year with a total of 180 first-year students (130 EE and 50 AU). Next to this, 56 international Master students and 50 pre-master (HBO) students started in Electrical Engineering. Altogether we have welcomed almost 300 new students this academic year! In the upcoming years we are going to expand our efforts in attracting more international students, both Bachelor and Master. Combined with the growing interest at recent open-day events and our excellent score in the yearly Elsevier ratings (best Bachelor EE in the Netherlands), we expect to expand our intake further in the upcoming years. Ludieke uitdeelactie omtrent het uitdelen van de eerste Focus on Flux krant Op dinsdagmorgen 23 september jl. werd de eerste Focus on Flux krant, samen met een loep, persoonlijk aan de medewerkers en studenten van de faculteit uitgedeeld. In totaal zullen verspreid over dit collegejaar 6 kranten verschijnen. Afscheid Harold Vervoort De redactie bedankt Harold voor zijn bijdragen en enthousiasme voor de Connecthor. 10 connecthor

11 ThEW, an unforgettable weekend! By: Robin Steenbakkers Association & DepartmentI On Friday afternoon the ThEW 2014 started with a delicious dinner at Potentiaal, after which we received the route to the address we were staying at that weekend. We had to go there ourselves (without any help). Luckily someone knew the address and led the way, although we lost a couple of people (but it stayed within the 10% range so it was acceptable) and they arrived a couple of minutes later. At the beginning, we had to hand in our mobile phones. We received an egg and a cup in return (not a great deal, I know). We had a great first night with many fun activities. First the board arrived and then many other Thor members joined us as well. We had a great evening together and were told to go to bed early because we needed every minute of sleep we could get. But not everyone listened. They woke us, or at least the people who were asleep, at ten o clock. Everyone had a nice breakfast with the much needed coffee. After that we had to do morning exercises. This isn t a very good idea after just 1.5 hours of sleep. In the afternoon, we went to Sint-Oedenrode (a place not far from Eindhoven) there we went on two missions. One: to get really cool stuff for a fuse, and two: to get as many names and phone numbers on a shirt (which were called later on that day). After that we went back and wrote a song about the candidate board, which was sung to them after dinner, at the bon fire. It was really nice to talk to everyone at the bon fire, the board, the candidate board, the participants and the Oude Bokken. All were enjoying themselves, laughing a lot and just having a good time. Everyone stayed awake until they thought they needed some sleep, which some people thought they didn t, but then again they drank some coffee made by Bram, so it contained more coffee than water. On Sunday morning, everyone packed their bags so they were ready to go back to Eindhoven. On our way back we went canoeing. A couple of people ended up in the water, some even more than once. Others ended up in the middle of nowhere because they missed the stop. After that we drove back to Eindhoven where we gave the board our presents that included some liquorice (which someone got for his birthday but didn t really like), a Thor film and 1100 cans tomato puree. And with that the awesome weekend ended. It was an amazing weekend that I will never forget. Everyone who helped organizing this, THANK YOU SO MUCH! And I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say: It truly was an unforgettable weekend! Social outing of the Buro By: Lies Termeer September 18th provided us with the most beautiful weather possible. The outing, considered from a weather s perspective, was already a big success. We walked to the center of Eindhoven where we were all tested on relevant and also very irrelevant knowledge present among us. This all happened in a pub t Mulderke and it was not even noon yet. The groups were very enthusiastic and competitive, even though the team Zonder Bart was missing a prominent member. Two teams were quite close all the time, but then unexpectedly a third team had a lucky shot at the number of Albert Heijn supermarkets and ended up winning the quiz by surprise. Some said it was because the phrasing of the questions was questionable of course TU/e people remain critical as always. Time to move on to the lunch, as we were getting hungry, by setting out on foot to Strijp S. André Amaro s Ketelhuis had a marvelous lunch for us and we even had the unique opportunity to eat outside. They had some surprising new food combinations and it was all very pure and fresh. The afternoon offered all of us the opportunity to exhibit our dance, drama, and acting talents as we were told that we were going to make a lipdup. Quite a few among us had never heard about a lipdup before and were moderately in shock after having been shown an example of what we were about to do that afternoon. To make things a little easier we got access to sunglasses, hats, dresses, boas to cover up ourselves and make us look unrecognizable. Alfons did his utmost best but somehow never really succeeded. The professionals showed us our stage spot and off we went to create and rehearse an original sketch on the assigned lyrics. Quite hilarious to see each other dressed up and dance on the tune of I got a feeling of Black Eyed Peas. For most us it was absolutely out of our comfort zone but as we were all in it together we developed a liking for it and enjoyed doing it. The lipdup was taped in one continuous shot and we already managed to satisfy the professionals in the 2nd take. In the final version, that we received a few days later, you can clearly pick out the talented actors who may already have received their first invitation as guest actors in commercial television. It s not on YouTube yet, but you may enjoy it on our local Wall of Fame. Still under a clear blue sky, we returned on foot to the city center and enjoyed an Italian dinner at Happy Italy, a lively new restaurant with a waiting-line that we were lucky to be allowed to bypass. December

12 IDepartment Afscheid Corona gebouw en hoogspanningshal Door: Wil Kling In het juninummer van de Connector is een tijdslijn gegeven van de groepen die we door de jaren heen gehad hebben binnen de faculteit. De groene groepen hebben het Corona gebouw bewoond, het markante zijgebouw van Potentiaal (E-hoog). Met weemoed zullen we het gebouw verlaten. De bijgevoegde foto laat zien hoe mooi onze hoogspanningshal er van binnen uitziet. Veel medewerkers wilden graag deze herinnering vastleggen en poseerden braaf voor deze groepsfoto. Helaas was een aantal collega s afwezig maar het zal nooit lukken iedereen bij elkaar te hebben. Corona was een van de eerste gebouwen op het terrein. Nadat een belangrijke commissie ter voorbereiding van een tweede instituut voor technisch hoger onderwijs, onder leiding van Mr. H. L. s Jacob, in 1955 een positief advies had uitgebracht en de regering daarna koos voor Eindhoven als stad voor de 2e Technische Hogeschool werd al snel gestart met de bouw van de campus. Er werd gekozen voor één architect voor het totale complex, Ir. S.J. Van Embden. Hij bedacht de structuur met alle hoge gebouwen in een bepaalde richting en de lage gebouwen daar loodrecht op. Dat zien we dus ook bij Impuls en Corona die haaks op Potentiaal aansluiten. Impuls werd als eerste gebouwd en Prof. J.G. Niesten werd eind 1956 benoemd als hoogleraar elektromechanica. Enige tijd daarna verrees Corona en Prof. D.Th.J. ter Horst werd aangesteld als hoogleraar hoge spanningen en hoge stromen. Corona is gebouwd door HVL dat sinds kort onderdeel is van Croon. HVL bouwde alles, eerst het karakteristieke deel met de prachtige koepel in het dak (het eerste hoge spanningen lab, later hoge stromen lab, dat in 1962 in bedrijf ging) en enkele jaren later ook het deel met de imposante kooi van Faraday (het hoge spanningen lab dat in 1970 in gebruik werd genomen). In 1966 vond de eerste promotie plaats door Ir. W.M.C. van den Heuvel, die later tot lector en vervolgens tot hoogleraar in de groep werd benoemd en dat ook bleef tot Prof. Ter Horst werd in 1977 opgevolgd door Prof. P.C.T. van der Laan die de nodige aanpassingen liet verrichten aan het hoge spanningen lab waardoor nieuw onderzoek kon worden opgestart. Alhoewel hij al sinds 2000 met emeritaat is, zien we hem nog regelmatig in Corona. Naast hoge stromen en hoge spanningen hebben ook EMC en Elektriciteitsvoorziening in zijn algemeenheid hun onderzoeksporen in het Coronagebouw nagelaten. Van het analoge netwerk simulatie lab is niets meer terug te vinden maar we hebben nu een uiterst modern Smart Grid lab en ook voor EMC hebben we een mooi lab met een specialistische testfaciliteit (reverberating chamber). Beide labs gaan mee naar Flux. Dat geldt niet voor het hoge stromen lab, want dat hebben we al in 2008 gesloten, en ook van de indrukwekkende hoogspanningshal moeten we afscheid nemen. Daarvoor krijgen we wel een geschikte nieuwe faciliteit terug: ook een kooi van Faraday, maar lang niet zo hoog als de vorige, namelijk slechts acht meter. Echt hoge spanningen van miljoenen Volts kunnen we dus nooit meer maken. Velen zullen zich nog herinneren dat er in ons gebouw ook een andere bijzondere opstelling aanwezig was, namelijk een zogenaamde schokbuisopstelling voor een magnetohydrodynamische energieconversie. Deze hing hoog in het gebouw in het verlengde van de hoogspanningshal en werd af en toe voor experimenten ingeschakeld waardoor het hele gebouw ging trillen. Het was een enorm verschil met het houten geraamte dat er nu staat en waarvan niemand weet wat er in gebeurt. Dat hoort dus voor de duidelijkheid niet tot ons onderzoek. Het directe energieomzettingsonderzoek van Prof. L Rietjens is lange tijd wel onderdeel geweest van onze groep, maar na het emeritaat van Prof. Rietjens en de korte tussenperiode van Prof. H. Rijanto is het onderzoek verder voortgezet bij Natuurkunde. Eén van de promovendi in deze richting was Ir. J.H. Blom en dat was in In 2000 kwam hij als Prof. Blom terug naar de groep om als enige leerstoelhouder te gaan fungeren voor alle activiteiten in Corona, zich op dat moment nog niet realiserende hoe sterk de groei van de EPS-activiteiten zou worden, met name op het gebied intelligente netten. Ook hij is nog vaak in Corona aan te treffen, maar ook in Impuls, Potentiaal en het Auditorium. In 2008 heb ik hem mogen opvolgen en ik zal de overgang naar Flux in goede banen proberen te leiden. We zullen de ruimte, de vrijheid, het eigene allemaal missen, maar het nieuwe gebouw heeft ook zijn charmes. Wil Kling Met dank aan Prof. M. Antal voor zijn hulp bij het ophalen van oude herinneringen. 12 connecthor

13 DepartmentI Ralph Otten blikt terug Door: Ralph Otten Mijn keuze voor een studie elektrotechniek kwam laat en niet met enthousiasme. Vanuit mijn middelbare school in Tilburg zag men voor mij vooral een studie Franse taal- en letterkunde wel zitten. Het was misschien wel juist daarom de eerste afvaller. Dat wegstrepen ging door tot alleen wiskunde, natuurkunde en elektrotechniek over waren. Ten slotte heb ik voor de laatste gekozen en daarmee begint in 1966 de band met wat toen nog de Technische Hogeschool Eindhoven heette. Technische hogeschool Eindhoven Ik hoorde bij de eerste generatie die onderwijs in het auditorium ontving. Veel colleges deelden we met de andere technische opleidingen, wat vooral de tentamens tot massale gebeurtenissen maakte. Ook het gebouw voor elektrotechniek was nog maar net klaar, maar had toen al speciale voorzieningen om een IBM360 computer te huisvesten. De rudimenten daarvan zijn nog steeds goed zichtbaar op wat nu vloer 10 heet. Onze generatie zou ik die van de seksuele voorlichting willen noemen. Op de middelbare school waren in tal van onderdelen lessen met die naam geïntroduceerd. Biologie, godsdienst, geschiedenis en avondvoorlichtingen (na de ouders) pretendeerden iets nuttigs over seks te brengen. Tot overmaat werd ook het onderwerp in onze eerste hogeschoolmaanden niet vergeten, al was het niet verplicht. Het werd een vermakelijke avond met een enorme opkomst en sprekers met landelijke roem. Ook een enkele lokale grootheid nam het woord, waaronder mijn latere afstudeerhoogleraar. Het onderwijs van de faculteit in die jaren was erg goed in de practica en beneden alle peil in de colleges. Vaak was het laatste letterlijk een professorale voorlezing uit een door anderen opgesteld dictaat, dat mondjesmaat ter beschikking van de studenten kwam. Desalniettemin waren het mooie jaren waarin de universiteiten een ware revolutie meemaakten. Ook wij vonden dat we niet achter konden blijven met onder andere de bezetting van het hoofdgebouw en diverse boude uitspraken ( die hoogleraren moeten ook maar eens eerst een vak gaan leren ). Hoogtepunten van het vijfjarige curriculum waren, denk ik, de twee externe stages die op de fabriekswerkvloer zouden moeten plaatsvinden. Het was toen nog totaal ongebruikelijk om kort na een ingenieursexamen te gaan promoveren. Professor Jess, wiens benoeming vrijwel samenviel met mijn afstuderen, dacht daar duidelijk anders over toen hij mij overhaalde de functie van medewerker in langdurig tijdelijk dienstverband te aanvaarden. Bij een bezoek van een professor uit Hawaï werd mij gevraagd of ik een PhD-candidate was. Ik zei neen, maar professor Jess corrigeerde: dat is ie wel, maar dat weet ie nog niet. Na enkele maanden ervaring met elektromotoren bij Brown-Boveri in Oostenrijk was ik overtuigd van het nut van computers bij ontwerpen en aanvaardde de aangeboden functie in ontwerpautomatisering. Een beetje geïsoleerd in de afdeling manifesteerden de promovendi van Jess zich vooral in het pas geopende Walhalla. Daar kwamen toen veel personeelsleden en werden af en toe ook afdelingszaken besproken door alle niveaus. Zo heb ik mij daar tot een afdelingscolloquium laten verleiden. December

14 IDepartment In mei 1973 heb ik voor een afgeladen volle collegezaal die presentatie gegeven met de titel algebra voor E waarin ik probeerde over te brengen dat de nadruk op vooral wiskundige vaardigheden zich in de praktijk niet uitbetaalde. Het bood op zich een goede academische test, maar begrip bleef eigenlijk volledig buiten beschouwing. En dat is nog zo: de vaardigheden worden door een enkeling in de praktijk gebruikt, zijn snel verwaterd en nemen nog steeds de plaats in van heel wat belangrijkere lessen. De enkele verschillen met destijds zitten in een verder verdunde inhoud en in plaats van tabellen gebruiken we nu vooral computers. In die jaren deden de vertalingen van de opstanden van zich voelen in de inrichting van diverse inspraakorganen en de oprichting van vakgroepen. De elektronicalaboratoria (EEA,EEB en EEC) samen met het natuurkunde-derivaat elektrotechnische materialen (EV) zouden samen één vakgroep moeten vormen die de werknaam EF in oprichting kreeg. Talrijke koddige en vooral emotionele besprekingen moesten helpen deze in de zin van de wet bedachte constructie vorm te geven. Dat werd niks natuurlijk, maar had een belangrijk nevenproduct: op voorstel van professor Jess werden de mogelijkheden van een ic-faciliteit (een ruimte om chips te maken) bestudeerd. Die faciliteit, EFFIC, kwam er, onder luid protest van een aantal kroondocenten, dat vergat dat ze in de nieuwe structuren niet apart vertegenwoordigd was. Dat laatste, meer dan alle rapporten en enthousiaste betogen, deed de afdelingsraad tot inrichting besluiten. Een zeer complexe ontwikkeling heeft daarna tot één van de paradepaardjes van onze campus geleid : het technologiegebouw Spectrum. Het bleef al die jaren onrustig en het intrigeren, waarbij de persoon vaak niet buiten beschouwing bleef, leidde tot veel onrust en stress. Zo werden eind jaren zeventig twee opeenvolgende portefeuillehouders onderwijs zo ernstig ziek dat niemand die functie nog wilde invullen. De raad kwam toen met het besluit dat elke vakgroep twee namen moest noemen en uit het totaal zou dan een nieuwe portefeuillehouder aangewezen worden. In ES was weinig keus en in afwezigheid van de voorzitter zijn de enige twee kandidaten (een derde was al overspannen) genoemd. Ik werd unaniem gekozen en werd tevens plaatsvervangend decaan. In ruil mocht ik daarna een jaar naar het buitenland. Een leuke klus die in dat jaar geklaard moest worden was de invoering van de tweefasenstructuur. In feite een condensering van een vijfjarig curriculum in vier jaar. Volgens Toon Verlijsdonk werd het het meest met alcohol overgoten onderwijsprogramma aller tijden. Die alcohol werd daarbij vooral door Thor geleverd dat inmiddels het Walhalla stevig in handen had. Iedereen is dat curriculum wel vergeten en het enige dat bij sommigen is blijven hangen is mijn gedetailleerde relatieschema voor onderwijsonderdelen en een nieuwe opzet voor het kroondocentenplan (de schietschijf ). Voor een en ander zijn beslag kreeg, was ik vertrokken naar het Department of Mathematics van IBM Research in Yorktown Heights (NY). Intermezzo Nederlanders naar IBM Research voor een jaar of zo was een initiatief van IBM Nederland, die daar ook aan mee betaalde. Echter na enkele maanden kreeg ik van het onderzoekslaboratorium een aanbod om met een vast contract verder te gaan terwijl ik een trimester per jaar college en begeleiding kon blijven geven. In Eindhoven vond men dat omslachtig omdat dan steeds een onderwijsopdracht geregeld moest worden. Men vroeg mij daarom om onbezoldigd in dienst te blijven. Achteraf voor mij een dure constructie, omdat ik na terugkomst de Nederlandse premie voor sociale verzekeringen moest betalen ondanks dat mijn belastbaar inkomen hier 0 gulden bedroeg. Die terugkomst kwam na 7 keer een jaartje langer bij IBM. Toen vond mijn vrouw het welletjes. Ik werd gevraagd hoogleraar te worden in Delft dat toen nog een volwaardige E-opleiding had. De hogescholen waren inmiddels universiteiten gaan heten. Technische Universiteit Eindhoven De tweede periode Eindhoven begon in 2000 met als eerste werkdag een onderwijsdag in Rolduc. Daar werd het nieuwe curriculum, met TIO s en OGO s gepresenteerd. Na een introductie waren discussies in kleinere groepen gepland, waarna elke groep een woordvoerder koos die het antwoord op drie vragen moest presenteren: is het duidelijk, wat zijn de sterke punten en wat zijn de zwakke punten. De antwoorden die ik presenteerde waren dat niet duidelijk was welke progressie over de drie jaren beoogd werd (wat kan ik in OGO 4 wat ik niet in OGO1 mag vragen), dat een sterk punt was dat wie daar doorheen kwam zeker de titel verdiende, maar dat niet veel kandidaten door dat curriculum zouden komen en vrijwel niemand in de nominale tijd. De faculteit mocht al heel snel opnieuw kennismaken met mijn pragmatisme toen gevraagd werd om samen met professor Groote van Technische Informatica een master embedded systems binnen twee maanden aan het CvB aan te bieden. Het ongelooflijke zat hem vooral in hoe twee zo van elkaar verschillende faculteiten zo snel tot een consensus over een programma konden komen. Die tevredenheid werd voor mij wel danig verzuurd toen bleek dat het resultaat vooral als handelswaar gebruikt werd in een 3TU-overleg. Maar de master was nog voor de invoering van echte masters een groot succes, en is dat nog! Amper twee jaar later werd mij gevraagd of een binnenkort arriverende hoogleraar niet opleidingsdirecteur kon worden. Mijn antwoord was dat ie dan op z n hakken zou omkeren. Toch was het redelijk dat ES, de enige vakgroep die toen die twee 14 connecthor

15 DepartmentI voltijdshoogleraren zou hebben, de directeur moest leveren. Dus dat moest ik dan maar zijn. Er waren stemmen dat ik eerst zou moeten tekenen dat ik het nieuwe curriculum, waar ik al vroeg mijn bezwaren tegen geuit had, getrouw zou invoeren. Ik heb niks getekend, maar het wel volgens ontwerp ingevoerd. De faculteit stond er wat onderwijs betreft toen slecht voor. Bij de laatste visitatie was er zelfs sprake van een rode kaart. Er stonden twee visitaties voor de deur en ik had sterk de indruk dat bij het CvB de messen al geslepen werden. Er was in 1998 hevige kritiek op met name de laatste twee jaar, het deel dat spoedig de master-opleiding moest worden. Zorgwekkend was dat de kritiek terecht was en dat er in de jaren daarna niets gebeurd was. Noodzaak was een master te ontwerpen die aantoonbaar alle kritiek van de vorige commissie verwerkte en die in zeer korte tijd door alle organen binnen de faculteit geaccepteerd kom worden. Hierbij moest aan de ene kant aangetoond worden dat diepte afgedwongen werd, beoordelingen objectief en met een gemeenschappelijke standaard gegeven konden worden en dat een verplichte oriëntering op de aanstaande praktijk in het programma opgenomen was. Aan de andere kant was een uitleg naar de faculteit nodig die weinig verandering suggereerde. Daarbij was het feit dat de invoering pas na het bezoek van de commissie zou plaatsvinden een voordeel. Na de inlevering van het rapport tot het alleruiterste vertraagd te hebben en de indeling ervan in ons voordeel aangepast te hebben, werden de visitaties succesvol afgewerkt. We waren zelfs de eerste faculteit die volgens de nieuwe Europese norm werden geaccrediteerd! Met de master nauwelijks op de rails kwam van hogerhand de wens (eis) van een verplichte minor in het baccalaureaatsprogramma. Zelf was ik niet zo n voorstander van proliferatie als het kernprogramma nog niet naar behoren uitgevoerd kon worden, maar toen de invoering onafwendbaar leek ben ik toch maar met prof. Van den Bosch om de tafel gaan zitten om ieder een minor te ontwerpen die onze studenten binnen de faculteit zou houden. In de inmiddels bekende sneltreinvaart werden automotive systems en connecting intelligence voor presentatie klaar gemaakt. Mijn standpunt omtrent minoren werd via de presentatie minoren, een doorn in het oog campusbreed verspreid en mijn inschatting dat het niet langer dan 10 jaar zou overleven ook. Tot slot Tot op de dag van vandaag zijn er mensen die denken dat ik een grote stem gehad in de bachelor-opleiding van de laatste 15 jaar. Het moge nu duidelijk zijn dat ik zo n curriculum nooit voorgesteld zou hebben. Een accent op oplossen van praktijkproblemen, het ontwerpen met een gegeven doel en ruimte voor vindingrijkheid en het leren beheersen van complexiteit zou ik in een elektrotechniekprogramma zekerstellen. Ik zou dat laten volgen op een propedeuse die voor iedere technische opleiding voor 80 percent identiek zou zijn en de geschiktheid voor zo n opleiding op academisch niveau moet vaststellen. Een keuze voor welke tak van techniek komt daarna. Eigenlijk is in een halve eeuw de gedoceerde inhoud niet wezenlijk veranderd. Hoogstens zijn het naslagwerk en de tabellenboeken vervangen door draagbare elektronica. Maar ik ben er nog altijd van overtuigd dat zo n opleiding een goede student niet kan verpesten. Dat gold in de jaren 60, toen er meer gestudeerd werd naast weinig contacturen, omdat er weinig andere tijdsbesteding mogelijk was. En dat geldt nu nog, al is het veel moeilijker om prioriteit aan zelf studeren te geven tussen de vele opties. Dat vraagt om een andere motivering en stimulering. Ondanks alles kan ik zeggen dat ik nooit spijt van mijn keuzes heb gehad. Als ik nu na de middelbare school een studie zou moeten kiezen, zou het weer elektrotechniek, of misschien biologie, geworden zijn. December

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17 Intro 2. & 3. After intro party 4. & 5. ThEW 6. & 7. Candidate drink 8. & 9. Excursion Thales 10. & 11. AME Excursion 12. & 13. Constitutional drink 14. & 15. FFF 16. & 17. CenThorion 18. & 19. Roof Potentiaal 20. & 21. Open days

18 IDepartment Mid-size league of Tech United at Robocup 2014 Text: Bob van Ninhuijs, Photos: Bart van Overbeeke Fotografie Thursday, 17th of July, it is 5:45 AM and we are gathering at the Tech United Arena of the TU/e. Everyone who still has some room in his suitcase is asked to take some extra equipment along such as laptops and adapters. And then, at 6:00 AM, the team of Tech United starts the journey, with destination Robocup 2014 in João Pessoa, Brazil. We first go by bus to Schiphol from which we fly to Sao Paulo. As there is no connecting flight to João Pessoa, we need to spend the night near the airport of Sao Paulo and continue the journey the next day. On Friday, 18 th of July, we arrive at the small airport of João Pessoa and after a one hour bus drive, we arrive at the hotel. The hotel is almost directly situated on a beautiful beach. Unfortunately, we have a load of preparing to do before we can enjoy the beach. After a quick breakfast the next day, the first day at Robocup 2014, we leave the hotel at 8:00 AM to the venue. We enter the enormous building where all the teams playing in different leagues will present their accomplishments of the past year. We are guided by the organization to our league area, the mid-size robot soccer league, where a bunch of empty tables and chairs are standing that will soon be filled by us and our opponents. Our soccer robots, or as we call them TURTLEs (Tech United RoboCup Team Limited Edition), have not yet arrived. They traveled by cargo ship and should also have arrived at the time we entered the venue. Fortunately, it does not take long before we get the good news, that the TURTLEs have arrived. As the team is now complete, the tournament can begin. The tournament always starts with two setup days, during these days we calibrate and tune the TURTLEs on the new field. We developed the software such that we have the TURTLEs running within an hour on a new field. However, as this is the world championship, we want a perfect calibration and tuning. Therefore, we take full advantage of the two setup days. The late afternoon and evening of the second setup day are always reserved for the technical and scientific challenge. The technical challenge is a specific assignment and the scientific challenge is a presentation and demonstration of each team of their scientific accomplishments achieved in the previous year. For the technical challenge each team needs to perform a pass and a shot on goal on artificial grass. During practice we nailed the assignment, however, during the actual test it does not work out as the practice and we come in third. For the scientific challenge, our team presents coaching software that lets the TURTLEs come to the sideline when blowing on a whistle and by means of a QR code, instructions can be provided. This innovation brings us the second place. Monday, 21 st of July, the first game day of Robocup There are two round-robins scheduled over three days. The first roundrobin is to eliminate the weakest teams, however, due to the limited number of teams, namely six, the first round-robin is mainly used for practice. Nevertheless, the first game day is very exciting, especially, because during the setup days the team has made a lot of software improvements. It shows in the first match that the TURTLEs have some difficulty playing soccer with the latest version of the software. Luckily, the opponent was not very strong and also suffered from difficulties. We manage to win this game, however, it becomes clear that we still have a long road ahead of us. From one game to the other, there are not many software implementations, mostly bug fixing and adding small features. There are only five opponents and it will not take long before we need to play again. After each game we have a small meeting were we discuss what went wrong and decide what needs to be 18 connecthor

19 DepartmentI done to improve the software. Fortunately, we manage to improve the software and win all the games of the first day. In the evenings there are no soccer games, which makes it ideal for recalibration, extra tuning, new implementations and testing of the software. When the venue closes at 23:00h, we go back to the hotel where the team usually splits up into three groups; one group gets something to drink, one group goes to sleep and usually one or two guys want to finish something in the software. Usually everyone is to bed within an hour because the next day we will leave the hotel again at 8:00h sharp. During the second round-robin, we manage to win from every team with exception of Water from China, the team we lost from in the previous world championship finals. The resulting semi-finals is also exactly the same as the previous year. Again this year the semi-finals existed of Water vs. MRL and CAMBADA vs. Tech United. On the eve of the semi-finals and finals everyone is tired and, therefore, it is dangerous to introduce It is such a relief and a rewarding moment that all the effort of the team pays off anything new that is bug-free. Therefore, only the more advanced programmers do some bug fixes and the others are all checking the calibrations and tuning. The day of the finals, we are at the venue again at 8:30h and checking some last stuff. There is not much time and, therefore, most of the guys of the team are helping to get the TURTLEs ready for the semi-finals. It is a game against CAMBADA from Portugal, a strong opponent. Luckily, we manage to win from them, but not by much. As no-one dares to take the risk and make some adjustments in the software, we prepare the TURTLEs for the finals. With the experience of last year, everyone was very nervous. The game consisted of two times 15 minutes and 10 minutes in between. The robots of Water are able to look up the free spaces because their robots are very fast. The keeper is one the star players this game, as it keeps almost all the goal shot of Water out. Finally, we hear the referee ending the soccer game with 3-2 for Tech United. It is such a relief and a rewarding moment that all the effort of the team pays off. Shortly after our victory we hear that AMIGO from the care robot team of Tech United has won the second place, which is also a great achievement. The award ceremony is amazing, to stand on that stage with all the contesters of Robocop 2014 applauding for your results. After the award ceremony we have a true Brazilian steak dinner to celebrate our world championship victory. After the dinner we are finally able to enjoy the beautiful beach of João Pessoa. The temperature stays at about 27 degrees 24 hours a day. This makes it possible for us to fully enjoy the beach on which we play beach volley for hours deep into the night. These results would not have been possible without the TU/e students who did their BEP, internship or graduation project within the team. Do you want to contribute, just contact techunited@tue.nl. December

20 IDepartment In 80 days around the world on electric motorcycles By: Tim Gerth On Thursday 2 October STORM Eindhoven introduced itself as the new automotive student team of the Eindhoven University of Technology. STORM is based at the Multimedia Paviljoen where it works on an innovative electric motorcycle. From 3 April 2016, STORM will participate in the 80 Day Race. In this race, which is only meant for vehicles without internal combustion engines, STORM Eindhoven will travel further than any other electric motorcycle has done in the past. Electric motorcycles Building a zero-emission vehicle without compromising on design, safety and pleasure. This is what STORM Eindhoven means to realize with an electric motorcycle, to show the world that e-mobility can be attractive. In addition to this, the motorcycle gives STORM Eindhoven a strategic edge over its competition in the 80DR, because traffic jams will slow you down less. By being the first to drive an electric series motorcycle around the world in 80 days, the team wants to show that attractive sustainable mobility is possible right now. STORM Eindhoven team STORM Eindhoven consists of 29 passionate and devoted students, who will give up two years of work in order to complete the project. There are four Electrical Engineering students and three Automotive students in the team. Besides the technical aspects, strategy is also a major factor of success in this race. The 80 Day Race takes place between eight major cities spread around the globe. Eight locations are set, the route between them has to be drawn by the teams themselves. Innovations The technical team of STORM Eindhoven has six major focus points by which it means to reinvent the motorcycle. First, it will focus on safety. Modern cars are equipped with numerous active safety systems that have made the car much safer over the years. The motorcycle has quite a gap to close. To make this work for the driver, well designed software is necessary to ensure good Human Technology Interaction. Next is robustness, as the motorcycle will have to travel a total of kilometres. Traveling 500 kilometres per day means the ride should also be comfortable, which is another focus. To enlarge practicality and strategic advantages, a smart battery system should be created, smart refuelling as STORM likes to call it. Last but not least, all of this should not compromise our design too much. Motorcycles are elegant, let s keep it this way. The race is on! Officially, the team has been kicked-off with the team launch. With the prototype unveiling scheduled for June 2015, the STORM Eindhoven team has started the design process in early September. The team has made the necessary first steps in order to achieve its goal: race around the world in 80 days using only renewable resources and contribute to a sustainable future. The race is on! 20 connecthor